Day 5: Thai Hoa – Thanh An Tea Hills

Distance: 60.7

Time: 5:12

Average Speed: 11.7 mph

The choice for today was to take Highway 15, otherwise known as the Ho Chi Minh Highway, or to take Highway 15 otherwise known as the Ho Chi Minh Highway. Both start near Thai Hoa and run parallel down the country for almost 200 miles before merging and becoming Highway 14 near Khe Sanh. I was opting for the western Highway 15, for now, the one that runs along close to the Lao border. I’d struggled to find accommodation along this stretch, thinking I may have to reach Po Chau, some 80 miles away, but at the last minute I’d hit upon a place called Gio Lao Eco Lodge which was about 60 miles, so I opted for there.

Leaving at quarter past 9, the mist was down and I pedalled for a few miles through quiet farmland in the relative coolth. At around 17 miles, Mark, Phil and Lou whizzed by. I’d seen them at breakfast and knew they’d be a little delayed in setting off, none of them had brought sun tan lotion so they were going shopping. After that they were headed back to the coast.

Eventually, the sun appeared and it was fierce, but there was a nice cooling breeze, even if it was working against me. I was feeling strong and had done 25 miles by 12 o’clock. Great scenery, little traffic, gently rolling hills and smooth tarmac. It was a great place to be cycling.

A great place to be cycling, except for two near collisions, that is. First when a truck tried to cut across me at a roundabout, and then when a girl on a moped, who could have been no more than 12, came careering out of a side street towards me, only veering away at the last second.

In fairness, mopeds in Vietnam are a great source of entertainment, not only because of the youthfulness of their riders, but also because of their load carrying capabilities. Whether that be a family of four, most of a field, several calves, multiple boxes of chickens, or, in time for yesterday’s U23 football match between Vietnam and UAE, 55” flat screen televisions.

As the day wore on, the heat began to take its toll and I was keen to get to the evening’s accommodation. Unfortunately, I wasn’t entirely sure where that was. My map was so out of date that a second Highway 15 didn’t exist, and my GPS map of the area couldn’t be relied upon either. That left my phone, which was out of reception. Then, all of a sudden, as I pedalled along, a single sliver of 3G appeared, and Google Maps jumped into life, just in time to tell me that the turn off was 100 yards away.

I suppose the accommodation could be classed as an Eco Lodge, if Eco Lodge means the worst Airbnb you’ve ever stayed in. Still, it’s not a bad spot.

Day 4: Ngoc Lac – Thai Hoa

Distance: 66.7 miles

Time: 5:54

Average Speed: 11.3 mph

I had curtailed my scheduled plans for the day and was now aiming for a hotel at 58 miles, due to yesterday’s punishing ride.

I wheeled out to the high street for breakfast and had the customary beef and noodle soup, then set off around half 8.

When I set off, I started to feel like this was the Ho Chi Minh Highway proper, it was a much more substantial road of freshly-laid tarmac, rolling along over shallower gradient hills, and I was able to tick off the miles much more quickly. During the morning, cloud cover came and went and with the slightly less hot conditions of the mid morning I managed to rack up 30 miles by midday.

I stopped at a roadside Banh Mi seller during the morning too, picking up two Banh Mi baguettes and a Coke for 30,000 Dong, in other words, one pound. The baguettes were tasty appearing to be filled with a chunk of omelette, chopped up hot dog and chili sauce (for the record, that’s hot dog as in American style sausage…). While I was stopped, I was interrogated by the owner’s daughter, something I’m getting used to from children of around 10 keen to try out their English skills. what’s your name, what age are you, where are you from? Not sure they’ve heard of Scotland but some had heard of the UK!

Into the afternoon, the heat picked up – reaching 28 degrees – with the length of the hills increasing in solidarity . Infuriatingly, the enjoyment of the similarly lengthening downhills was tempered by a stiff headwind.

Reaching 45 miles at ten past two, I realised that my initial goal of 67 miles for the day was back in reach. Looking at hotel reviews on Google, I hazily remembered the reviews for the Riverside Hotel Thai Hoa from my pre-trip planning, so reset my course for there and spent the last 9 miles on a quiet back road.

Arriving at the hotel and waiting to check in, I was shocked to find Mark from the hotel at Mai Chau coming out of the lift. On their motorbikes, he, and friends Phil and Lou, had headed for the coast yesterday, decided they didn’t fancy the coast highway so headed back inland today. It was an utterly random chain of events that had led us all to be at this hotel tonight, and it seemed like a good reason to have a few drinks!

Going for dinner afterwards, we wandered for ages through town before jumping in a taxi and, asked for a restaurant recommendation. We got dropped at an ideal place, 100m from the hotel. It did make getting home afterwards straightforward.

Day 3: Mai Chau – Ngoc Lac

Distance: 60.94 miles

Time: 5:23

Average Speed: 11.3 mph

I had a very pleasant stay at the Mai Chau Sky Resort. My dinner of Vietnamese spring rolls, beef with ginger, and fried rice was great, and I spent a while chatting to Mark and his two friends who were motorcyclists from near London. They had just left Hanoi that morning so we pondered the implausibly chaotic road conditions and how it was amazing we hadn’t seen any crashes. I had probably seen the aftermath of one mind you, as some men gathered around a bicycle stopped in front of a truck, clearly trying to straighten the front wheel!

I set off at half 8 as I had a long day ahead, and was pleased to get 7 or 8 miles on the flat before the sun started to emerge from behind the mountains. The road began to undulate along the side of a picturesque river valley and it was hard to get much of a rhythm going. I stopped at around the 10 mile mark to stock up on supplies, including some cans of a rather good bit-filled mango juice.

Shortly after, passing through a small town, the road turned to slurry and I just about toppled over as my front wheel disappeared into the mud. I became slightly alarmed when I left the town to discover the road ahead looked much the same. Fortunately it was the result of a nearby quarry and it didn’t last for long before transforming into a brand new section of tarmac.

Soon, I bumped into the three motorcyclists from last night’s accommodation, in a lay by. They’d been waylaid, helping a local who’d run out of fuel at the side of the road. Fuel wasn’t the only thing he’d run out of, it would seem, as when they got to the ad-hoc syphon-based filling station he’d also mislaid his money.

The sun was beating down through the middle of the day, but I took few breaks as I was keen to get through the miles and find a bed for the night. As I pedalled along I saw a black squiggle on the tarmac, and looked back to see the unmistakeable shape of a snake sunning itself on the road. Don’t worry, only 30 of Vietnam’s 140 snake species’ are poisonous…

The road continued to rise and fall passed terraced paddy fields and quaint villages with endless streams of excited children shouting ‘hello’ from the roadside.

Gradually, the miles added up, until finally reaching the 60 mile mark, and soon after, Ngoc Lac, and ‘The Gold Time’ Hotel. It’s fairly average as hotels go, but it is only £9 a night. At dinner, I misread the menu in a local restaurant and ended up with a pizza that serves 4. Not on this occasion it didn’t, not after I’ve missed my lunch.

Day 2: Hoa Binh – Mai Chau

Distance: 41.32 miles

Time: 4:22

Average Speed: 9.5 mph

After a good sleep at the Ha Tam hotel, I went for breakfast at a local street stall, having Pho Ga (chicken), which was the best so far. Whilst I was eating, a shot glass was slammed down on the table beside me, then another, by a passing local who was there for breakfast. Then he filled them up with an unidentified spirit and urged me to take a shot. Then he filled them back up again, I’m almost entirely sure that’s the first time I’ve had shots for breakfast, certainly with chicken and noodle soup!

Hitting the road at just after 10, I was soon deciding that I’d been lured into a false sense of security by the flat roads yesterday, it wasn’t going to stay that way. The road soon climbed steeply before dropping down the other side and continuing to undulate for most of the day.

The roads were lined with orange stalls and cafes while mountains loomed overhead. By the time I started looking for somewhere to get lunch, all of the roadside stalls seemed to have closed for lunch, themselves, something I’ll have to be wary of on the days ahead.

Towards the end of the day the road started to climb, and climb and climb. This might be the cool season, but 27 degrees seems plenty to me, and it was tough work climbing up to an eventual altitude of over 700 metres.

As I dropped down the other side, the suffering began to look worthwhile as I caught glimpses of my final destination, Mai Chau, far below. It’s a glorious spot, a vast flat plateau of rice fields ringed with mountains, and my lovely pool-side bungalow situated in the middle.